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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P.FRANK.

I GAR COUPLING. No. 351,970. Patented Nov. 2, 1886.

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MMWW v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER FRANK, or sr. Louis, MISSOURI.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 351,970, dated November2, 1886.

Application filed August 16, IEFG. Serial No. 211,089. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER FRANK, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car- Gouplings, ofwhich the following is a 'full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification, and in which-- Figure 1 is an end view of a freight-car,showing my improvement applied. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation showing theadjacent ends of two cars with my improvement applied. Fig. 3 is adetailtopviewof the adjacent ends of two cars, showing my improvementapplied Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the ends oftwodraw-bars provided with my improved coupling, the section being takenon line 4 5, Fig. 7. Fig. 51s a similar view showing the parts in asimilar positiomexcept that theyare adjusted to cause the link to entera drawvbar of a higher elevation than the one in which the link issupported, thesection being takenon line 4 5, Fig. 7. Fig. 6 is ahorizontal. longitudinal section taken on line- 6 6', Fig. 4. Fig. 7is"a vertical transverse section taken on line 7 7, Fig. 4. Fig. 9 isa-horizontal longitudinal section taken on line-9 9, Fig. 5, lookingdown. Fig. 8 is an elevation of one of the coupling-pins and a sectionof one of the lifting-collars.

In allv automatic car couplings heretofore.

constructed the actuating mechanism has been exposed either to theweather or to the action of. the draw-heads upon eachother, or both, andno provision has been before made for aul tomatieally withdrawing theactuating machinery to a place of safety when out of employment andsecuring its return to a position and from being exposed to' theweather, one

that will operate perfectly under all circum stances, one that-willnotbe liable to getout of: order, and. which may be used without goingbetween the cars to couple or unconple 3 them; and. to this end myinvention consists in features of novelty, hereinafter fully described,andp'ointed out in the claims'.

Referring. to the drawings, Arepresents: the

adjacent ends'of two cars. In Figs. 1 and 3 box-cars are shown, and inFig. 2 a flat car is shown. In the former case the mechanismconstituting the coupling may be provided with-cords or rods extendingeither to the top of the car or to the sides, or both, as hereinafterdescribed, so that it can be operated without entering in between thecars, and in the latter case such rods 01' cords would ex tend to thesides of the car, so thatthe mechated without passing in between thecars.

B representsthe draw-bars, which are secured to the body of the cars inany well-known or usual manner.

0 represents the coupling-link, and D the coupling-pins. Each draw-baris provided with a housing or case, B, having a removable cap, B, withinwhich the mechanism constituting the automatic coupling is located, andwhich protects this mechanism from exposure to the weather and frombeing struck by objects which might cause a breakage or dislocation ofthe parts.

Each pin is provided with an extension, D, that protrudes through thecap B of the housing. Upon this extension is formed or secured aprojection or lip, I, as shown in Figs. 4, 5-, 7, and 8. This lip orprojection is engaged'to support the pin by a dog or pawl,J, secured toa rock-shaft, J, jonrnaled in the sides of theho'nsing B, and held toengagement by the shapeof'said pawl and bya countor-weight on arm J*.This rock-shaft is operated to disengage the hook J from the lip I, toallow the pin to fall by gravity, by means of an arm, I, on the shaft J,connected by means of a link, J to an arm, K, on a rocksh'aft, K, journaled in the walls of the housing B. This shaft 11 is provided with acam, K 'w-ith which engages the upper end, L, of a trip-lever, L,supported on a rock-shaft, L journaled inthe walls of the housing B,this lever extending down through an opening, B 3 in the topof thedraw-bar, its lower endfitting gin the central part of the throat of thedrawbar.

Now,- it will be understood that when the ,ooupl-i-ng-link Centers thethroat of thedrawitri-p-lever L it forces it from the position ishown onthe right-hand side of Fig. 4 to the bar and comes against the lower endof the anism constituting the brake could be o'p'erposition shown on therighthand side of Fig. 5, and through means of the described connectionthe dog or pawl J will be disengaged from the lip I, allowing the pin todescend, and as it falls it enters the coupling-link, thereby couplingit to the draw-bar. The pinis thus automatically dropped to coupling orusing position.

In order that the link 0 shall not move the parts too far, which mightresult in a breakage, and in order to prevent any danger of its passingthe lower end of the trip L,the throat of the draw-bar is contracted atB, (see Fig. 9,) forming shoulders, against which the end of the linkwould impinge, preventing its farther movement into the draw-bar. Incase the link 0 is in place and the cars are not moving, the pin can bedropped by operating the dog J by hand,instead of by the action of thepin, by simply rocking the arm J on one end of the shaft J outside ofthe housing, so that the dog J can be operated by such turning of theshaft J by taking hold of this arm J; and in order that it may beoperated from the side or top of the car acord or rope, J may beconnected thereto and extended to the top or side of the car withinhandy reach of the brakeman or other person.

In coupling a car the pin D is raised or elevated from the positionshownon the left-hand side of Figs. 4, and 5 to the position shown on therighbhand side by means which I will now describe.

M represents a collar surrounding the upper end of the pin D, and havinga socket to receive a flange, B on the upper end of the pin. To thiscollar is connected a rock-shaft, M, by means of arms M and links M,these arms and links acting to lift the collar, and consequently thepin, when the shaft M is turned. The shaft is jonrnaled in the sides ofthe housing B, as shown most clearly in Fig. 7. The collar M is providedwith ears M, to which the lower ends of the links M are secured. It willthus be seen that by turning the rock-shaft M in the proper directionthe collar M and pin D will be raised from their lower to their upperpositions, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The shaft is provided with anextension, M extending to the side of the car, and by which it can beturned without going between the cars; and by providing the extension Mwith a crank or segment, M, to which is connected a'rope, cord, or rod,M, reaching to the top of the car, the pin can be raised from the top ofthe car, if desired. It will be seen that the collar M is not held fromvertical movement on the pin D, so that as soon as thepin is raised andthe power that raised it removed from the extension M the collar M andthe arms andlinks that form a connection between it and the rock-shaft Mwill return to their normal position,as shown by dotted lines on theright-hand side of Fig. 4. This leaves the pin suspended alone, so thatwhen the dog J is disengaged from the lip I the pin will be free tofall, and its movement will not be retarded by the mechanism by which itis elevated. As the pin is elevated the dog J is moved back by bearingagainst the inclined upper surface of the lip I, and as the lip I risesabove the dog the latter moves in beneath the lip, holding the pin insuspension, as already described.

I have now described the manner of lifting and dropping the pin of onedraw-bar, and the mechanism of the other draw-bar is identical withthis. I have spoken of the arms J, K, and M and the links J and M asthere being one of each; but, as is shown and preferred, there may betwo of each, one on each side of the pin-that is, the shaft J haspreferably two arms, J", the shaft K preferably two arms, K, andconsequently there would be two links, K, connecting these arms, one foreach pair. The same is true of the arms M and links it It frequentlyhappens that one draw-bar, or the draw-bar of one car, is at alowerelevation than the draw-bar of the car to which it is to be coupled. Tomeet such cases I have provided astirrup or U-shaped frame, fitting andworking in a groove, N, in the draw-bar, to lift the coupling-link. Thisframe or stirrup is placed within and back some distance from the mouthof the draw-bars, so that it is not liable to be struck or injured bythe heads of the draw-bars when they come together, and it may be raisedfrom the position shown on the left-hand side of Fig. 4 to the positionshown on the left-hand side of Fig. 5. It is thus raised by means of ashaft, D, journaled in the sides of the housing B, to which are securedarms 0, connected by links 0 to the respective ends of the stirrup N.

The shaft 0 is provided with an extension, 0 which extends to the sideof the car, and which, like the extension M of the shaft M, may beprovided with a crank or segment, 0', to which is secured a cord, 0,extending to the top of the car, and by which the rock-shaft O can beturned to lift the link from the side or top of the car. Vhen thelink isthus raised, it is supported in it's raised position at any desiredheight by means of one or more catches or projections, P, on the outerface of the arms J with which engages a rod or bar, N, that connects theupper ends of the U-shaped bar N. (See left-hand side of Fig. 5.) Therod N maybe caused to engage either of the projections P, so that thelink 0 may be held at the desired elevation. On the left-hand side ofFig. 5 the upper projection, P, is shown in engagement with the rod N,so that the link 0 is held at its highest elevation. The lower faces ofthe projections P are made rounding, so that when the link is raised thebar N, coming against the bottoms of these projections, will cause thelower ends of the arms J z to swing inward, allowing the bar N to pass,and the arms will then swing back bygravity, causing the projectiOnS l?to engage beneath the rod N.

ICC

\Vhen the heads of the draw-bars come to- I get-her in coupling thecars, the U shaped yoke will be moved from the position shown in fulllines on the left-hand side of Fig. 5 to the position shown in dottedlines, thus releasing the stirrup N and allowing ..it to drop to itslower or normal position, so that the throat of the draw-bar is leftclear and not obstructed by the stirrup while the cars are in motion orthe next time the cars are to be coupled. In connecting two cars (Wherethe draw-bars are at a different elevation) the link would first tripthe device supporting the pin D, as shown on the right-hand side ofFig.5, and then, be-

ing prevented from moving farther inward into the head of that draw-barby the contracted throat D, it would be forced back into the throatofthe other drawbar, operating that, as shown by dotted lines on theleft-hand side of Fig. 5, thereby releasing the stirrup.

Although on the right-hand side of Fig. 5 the dog J is shown asdisengaged from the projection or lip I, yet the pin is shown in itsraised or upper position, to better convey the idea intended to beillustrated in this figure. In practice, of course, the pin would dropas soon as the dog J is disengaged from the lip I.

I claim as my invention- I In a car-coupling, the combination of thepin, collar engaging the pin, rock-shaft, connection between therock-shaft and collar, and means for supporting the pin, the Whole beingconstructed substantially as described, whereby when the pin is raisedthe collar may return to its normal position, leaving the pin suspended,substantially as set forth.

2. In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin, collar engaging thepin, rockshaft, arms on the rock-shaft, links connecting the arms to thecollar, and means for sustaining the pin, the whole being constructedsubstantially as described, whereby when the pin has been raised thecollar may return to its normal po sition, leaving the pin suspended,substantially as set forth.

3. In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin, collar engaging thepin, rock-shaft, connection between the rock-shaft and collar, extensionon the pin, lip or projection on the extension, and a dog for engagingthe lip, the whole being arranged substantially as described, for thepurpose set forth.

4. In a car-coupling, the combination of the pin having an extensionprovided with a lip or projection, collar engaging the pin, linkssecured to the collar, rock-shaft, arms on the rock-shaft to which saidlinks are secured, and a dog for engaging the projection on theextension of the pin, the whole being arranged substantially asdescribed, whereby the dog supports the pin after the collar hasreturned to its normal forth.

' 5. In a car-coupling, the combination of the vpin, collar surroundingthe pin, rock-shaft, connection between the collar and rock-shaft,extension-on the pin, lip or projection on the extension, dog forengaging the lip, rock-shaft to which the dog is secured, arms on therockshaft, links connecting the arms to arms secured to asecond rockshaft, cam on last-mentioned rock shaft, and pivoted lever engaging saidcam, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a car coupling, in combination with the coupling link, pin havingan extension provided with a lip, and mechanism for elevating the pin,constructed to return to its normal position while the pin remainselevated, a dog for engaging the lip on the extension of the pin, andmechanism through which the dog is operated by said link, substantiallyas set forth.

7. In a car-coupling, in combination with the pin having an extensionprovided with a lip and mechanism for raising the pin, a dog forengaging the lip on the extension of the pin, rock-shaft to which saiddog is secured, arms secured to the rockshaft, a sec ond rock-shaftprovided with arms, links connecting said arms, cam on last-mentionedrockshaft, and pivoted lever engaging said cam, and acting inconjunction with the couplinglink to release the pin and allow it tofall into using position, substantially as set forth.

8. In a carconpling, in combination with the pin provided with anextension having a lip and a dog for engaging the lip and holdingthe pinin an elevated position, rock-shaft position, substantially as set towhich the dog is secured, arms on the rock shaft, projections 011 saidarms, a stirrup or on said stirrup for engaging the projections on thearms, and means for disengaging the projections from the cross-bar onthe stirrup, consisting of a pivoted lever, cam, rock-shaft to which thecam is secured, and'connection between the rock-shaft and arms havingthe projections, substantially as set forth.

9. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-pin andcoupling-link, the stirrup encircling the coupling-link and providedwith a cross-bar on top, links connected to the stirrup, arms connectedto the upper ends of the stirruplinks, rock-shaft to which the arms aresecured,and by which they are operated to elevate the coupling-link, anda draw-bar provided with a groove, in which said stirrup fits and works,substantially as set forth.

10. In a carcoupling, in combination with a draw-bar having a groove inits throat, a coupling-pin and coupling-link, the stirrup fitting in thegroove of the draw-bar encircling the coupling-link, and locatedentirely within the throat of the draw-bar a distance back from the faceof the draw-head, and mechanism for operating the stirrup to elevate thecoupling-link, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

11. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-link andcoupling-pin, a stirrup encircling the coupling-link, provided with across-bar at top, links secured to the stirrup, arms secured to theupper end of the stirruplinks, rockshaft to which the armsare secured,and by which they are operated to lift the stirrup, swinging armsprovided with projections to engage the stirrup, rock-shaft to which thearms are connected, cam on the rock-shaft, and pivoted lever bearingagainst the cam, and which is operated by the coupling-link to releasethe stirrup and allow it to descend to its normal position,substantially as set forth.

12. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-pin, mechanism,substantially as described, for elevating the pin, and a housing securedto or formed upon the draw-bar for inclosing said mechanism, and in thesides of which the rock-shafts of said mechanism are journaled,substantially as and for the purpose Set forth.

13. I11 a car-coupliug, in combination with the coupling-pin andcoupling-link, mechanism, substantially as described, for lifting andreleasing the pin, mechanism, substantially as described, for raisingthe link, and the housing secured to or formed upon the draw-bar forinclosing said mechanism, and in the sides of which the rock-shafts ofsaid lifting and releasing mechanism arejournaled, substantially as andfor the purpose set forth.

14. In a car-coupling, in combination with the coupling-pin, mechanism,substantially as described, for lifting the pin, mechanism,substantially as described, for releasing the pin automatically by theentrance of the link, mechanism, substantially as described, for liftingthe coupling-link, mechanism, substantially as described, for releasingsaid link-lifting mech anism automatically by the entrance of the link,and draw-bars having contracted throats acting to prevent the link fromentering the draw-bars too far, for the reasons specified.

15. In a car coupling, in combination with the coupling, mechanism,substantially as described, for lifting the pin and then automaticallyreturning to its original position, mechanism for lifting thecoupling-link, substantiall y as described, and placed within thedrawbars and housing, both sets of mechanism placed as described andcapable of acting automatically, separately or together, and allreturning automatically to their normal position as soon as used,snbstantiall y as described.

GEO. H. KNIGHT, J OE WAIILE.

